CAR owners in Wyre Forest could see their vehicles crushed by police cracking down on road tax evaders.

West Mercia Constabulary has become only the eighth force in England and Wales to take on devolved powers enabling it to seize and destroy untaxed vehicles.

The new powers, taken over from the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency - DVLA - extend West Mercia's existing rights to seize uninsured and unlicensed vehicles and those driven by people without valid driving licences.

They will enable the police to clamp down on persistent offenders and crush vehicles used by criminals and other anti-social drivers.

West Mercia currently seizes and destroys around 200 vehicles each month but, with the enhanced powers, that is expected to rise to up to 250 a month or 3,000 a year.

When vehicles are seized, they are held at secure garages until owners provide their documents and pay a release fee. An average of 40 per cent of seized vehicles are destroyed or sold after 14 days because nobody has claimed them.

Offenders could face other penalties, including fixed penalty notices, with fines of £60 for having no tax or MoT or £200 for no insurance, as well as penalty points on their licences.

Insp Mark Travis, of West Mercia's force operations department, said: "Preventing these vehicles from being used in the future helps to make our roads and communities safer and plays a role in disrupting the activities of criminals."

He added: "We will be focusing on West Mercia's boundaries to identify illegal vehicles as they enter the force area, as well as supporting local policing by targeting specific residential estates in Kidderminster."

Advertisements on buses in Kidderminster will support the campaign and leaflets will be handed out by officers when they stop vehicles.

Chief Insp John Morgan, of North Worcestershire police, said: "It is not fair that the majority of vehicle owners pay their road tax and ensure that their vehicles are roadworthy, while others blatantly flout the law.

"We know that in cases where owners do not have tax, it is also likely they may not have insurance or an MoT certificate."